“So retailers might have to pay us a bit more, but they’re ultimately profiting a lot more. That enables you to sell 100% of your product rather than just 80% of your product with the other 20% going to waste, and waste is such a huge issue in retail. It’s more a matter of how you can improve your product quality, taste, longevity and appearance. Nowadays, both retailers and consumers are increasingly realizing that cheaper is not always the best approach. We’re positioned at the higher end of the market, but once our retail customers know that we’re an efficient greenhouse company they’re happy to enter into long-term partnerships with us,” comments Luis. “We strive to grow the best products using sustainable methods. Sustainability is an important theme for the company, which has a strong focus on quality and freshness. That’s a big difference from Canada.” Locally grown In fact, we don’t generate our own energy because it makes better financial sense to buy it in than produce it ourselves. And thirdly, there is a high energy availability at low cost in Ohio.

Secondly, the winters are cold here, which we actually like because it helps to keep pests down to a minimum without spraying, and we aim for pesticide-free as much as we can. Firstly, this location in the Midwest of the USA gives us access to around 200 million people within easy driving distance, which is beneficial in terms of logistics and shelf life. “When looking to expand our operations,” explains Chibante, “I decided to build a new company here in Wapakoneta, Ohio, for several reasons. It was set up as a sister company of Golden Acre Farms near Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. The history of Golden Fresh Farms, managed by Luis Chibante (president) and Paul Mastronardi (vice president), began around four years ago. In Greenhouses spoke to Luis Chibante, president and CEO of the company, to learn more about the company’s activities and high-quality, innovative approach. Golden Fresh Farms, based in Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA, is a high-tech tomato producer selling to leading grocery retailers in North America.

Golden Fresh Farms Wapak Ohio